


The Day The Circus Stood Still

by Ollieollieupandfree



Series: Cirque du Iplier [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Circus, Gen, Jackie and Silver can be read as either romantic or platonic it's really up to you, Major character death - Freeform, Supernatural Elements, Trapeze, Trapeze Artist Jackie, Trapeze Artist Silver, falling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-02-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:06:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22638928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ollieollieupandfree/pseuds/Ollieollieupandfree
Summary: In a circus where people routinely come back to life after dying, it isn't that uncommon for people to have accidents. But that doesn't make it any less distressing.Or; Jackie slips up
Relationships: Jackaboy-Man & The Silver Shepherd
Series: Cirque du Iplier [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1628557
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	The Day The Circus Stood Still

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome! This is my first time really writing something like this, and I'm super excited~! The circus itself will probably be explained in the next one, but for now, have a short and "sweet" little bit of the history of some characters!
> 
> One final warning; This does involve major character death from falling from a great height. If you are sensitive to either of those things, TURN BACK NOW! If you continue to read past this warning, I am not liable for anything that happens.

The day started out normally, if with a bit of a bad feeling. But, then again, when it was your turn to help the crew with breakfast, it was normal to have a bad feeling. So Jackie didn’t pay it any mind. He did his part during breakfast - making sure to secretly save himself and Silver the best parts. Although everyone did that with breakfast duty, so it wasn’t that unusual - and then he went to work. After all, he still had to practice.

Truth be told, Jackie was nervous about tonight. He and Silver had always been the type to do stupid things for the entertainment of their audience - Hell, that was their whole job! - but this was… dangerous. The quadruple somersault was one of the most difficult tricks on the trapeze. And, sure, Jackie could catch Silver most of the time, but that wasn’t enough! It wasn’t enough because, well.

Wilford wanted them to do the trick without a net.

It wasn’t that unusual, really. Silver and Jackie - and the other trapeze artists - did shows without the net all the time. But this was different. Dropping Silver here meant he could get seriously injured. It could mean  _ death  _ for the young acrobat if Jackie didn’t catch him.

Which, in this circus, wasn’t too big of a deal. People had a bad habit of coming back after they died. Jackie had seen it with his own eyes when he found The Author and The Host. But still. He couldn’t -  _ wouldn’t  _ \- do that to Silver.

“You seem stressed,” Silver commented, bending over backward to look at Jackie as they stretched. “What’s on your mind?”

“You,” Jackie answered honestly, placing his foot back on the ground so it wasn’t stretching over his head. “And tonight.”

“Why, Jackie,” Silver joked. “Someone will think you have plans for this young maiden here!”

“You are not a maiden, dumbass,” Jackie snorted, grabbing some chalk out of his bag and throwing it at the Korean man. “You’re such a dick sometimes, Sil. I was talking about the trick.”

“Ah.” Silver straightened and turned to look at Jackie properly. “Jackie, if you’re that scared of it, we can do it with the net. Wilford will blow hot air for a few hours, but he’ll calm down soon enough. The trick’ll be cool enough on its own.”

“I just-” Jackie sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t want to drop you.”

“Jackie, you can do this,” Silver said, gripping Jackie’s shoulders. “I  _ know  _ you can. We’ve been practicing for  _ months _ . And you’ve always caught me before! It’ll be great!”

Jackie frowned and shrugged. “I guess you’re right…”

“Of course I’m right,” Silver laughed, ruffling Jackie’s hair. “I’m  _ the  _ Silver Shepherd! I’m awesome!”

“That’s not your actual name, jackass!” Jackie laughed, then noticed white powder falling in front of his eyes. “Did you put chalk in my hair!?” Silver just laughed and took off running. “Silver, you bastard! Get back here!” Jackie took off after the young acrobat, also laughing.

* * *

It was showtime. It was showtime, and Jackie was more nervous than he had ever been. Not even during his first show had he been this nervous. He was, for once, glad that the right ring was dark enough for the fliers not to notice how nervous he was. A nervous catcher never did anyone good. He watched Bim’s performance idly, noticing how much trust the young celebrity put into his cats not to hurt him. The same sort of trust Silver put in him.

“And now, ladies, gentlemen, and other configurations of being, I bring you… Jackaboy-Man and The Silver Shepherd, the world’s best trapeze acrobats, accompanied by our most recent newcomers, Anxiety and Deceit!”

Jackie sucked in a nervous breath of air as the lights turned to their ring, sitting properly on his catcher’s ring and waving cheerily to the crowd. He knew that behind him, Silver and the newbies were waving similarly. Crowds always went wild for the trapeze- after all, it was one of the most dangerous tricks in the show. Especially without the net…

“All right, boys, let’s get this show on the road!” Wilford’s voice came, startling Jackie into action. He carefully slipped upside down, gripping the bar with his knees.

It was going… well. It was going  _ really  _ well, actually. The tricks were all perfect, and the crowd loved it. Even through his mask, Jackie could tell that Silver was having fun, and the newbies were, too. Even Jackie was starting to relax and have fun. Everything was going perfectly! Silver was even able to do a trick he’d been having trouble with- a half turn from Korean cradle back to the fly bar. So it was going fantastic. And then the music stopped.

“Ladies, gentlemen, and other configurations of being,” Wilford’s voice cut in. “Tonight, you are going to witness one of the greatest feats in the history of the trapeze. For decades, the quadruple somersault has been the most difficult of tricks. But tonight, you will see it performed  _ live! _ And to add to this exciting adventure, our acrobats will be performing it  _ without the net!” _ At Wilford’s words, the crew rushed over and made quick work of the net. For the first time all night, the crowd was silent.

Across from him, Silver took off his cowl and grinned cheekily, shaking his dumb, fluffy hair. He looked absolutely stupid, with that confident grin on his pretty face. Jackie felt anxiety settle in his chest like a block of ice as Silver climbed up onto the smaller platform, holding the fly bar with one hand and keeping his balance with the other.

“Ready, Jackie?” Silver called, still grinning that stupid grin.

“Ready as I’ll ever be, boyo!” Jackie responded, relaxing slightly as the crowd laughed. With that, Silver jumped off the platform, gripping the fly bar tight as he swung back and forth a few times to gain height.

And then he let go, and it was like the world was in slow-motion. It was beautiful.  _ He  _ was beautiful, executing all four somersaults with perfect form. It was like the world itself warped around Silver’s lithe form as he flipped. Jackie relaxed as Silver stretched out, back arched and arms out-stretched with that beautiful, utterly ridiculous smile. And it was just like in practice. Jackie reached out and grabbed Silver’s wrists, and it was perfect.

Until it wasn’t. Until Silver started to fall faster than they thought he would. His wrists slipped from Jackie’s grip. His smile fell and his eyes widened, staring at Jackie with more fear in his eyes than Jackie ever wanted to see from those silver pools.

“Jackie?” his voice was soft. He didn’t scream as he fell. Didn’t yell. Only said Jackie’s name, soft and sweet as he desperately reached for his hands.

“SILVER!” Jackie screamed, stretching as much as he could.  _ ‘Just a little more!’  _ he thought, fingertips brushing against Silver’s just as the young acrobat fell out of his reach. The crew jumped into action, desperately trying to get something -  _ anything _ \- up in time for Silver’s fall. But it was too late.

It lasted a second but felt like a century. One second Silver was dropping chalk in Jackie’s hair, laughing and playing. The next second, there was a sickening splat and blood was spreading across Silver’s suit, eyes wide and vacant as he stared up at Jackie.

Someone screamed and it took Jackie a minute to realize it was himself. He scrambled out of his cradle, climbing desperately to the rope ladder that would lead him down to his best friend. The big top erupted into chaos around him, but all Jackie paid attention to was the feeling of Silver’s blood against his knees as he kneeled next to the broken body of his best friend.

**Author's Note:**

> Congratulations, you made it to the end! It wasn't very long, but when your first impression is killing one of your favorite characters, short is better.
> 
> Want to talk to me about this AU? Come join me at we-need-a-sexy-skeleton.tumblr.com!


End file.
